Getting up early to catch a train is pretty much our motto, so we were on the 7:15 am train out of Munich heading up to Passau on a cool, cloudy April Saturday.  Two hours later, we found the clouds to be parting as we walked down the main shopping and tourist street of this small town toward the tip of the pennisula in the middle of three rivers, the Danube, the Inn and the Illz.  This area is a small park with a marker describing the visual phenomenon of the three rivers converging and a monument to maritime workers.  The park is a very scenic spot and a great place to get your bearings.

Walking up the developed bank of the Danube river, we looked up to the hohenfestung on the northern bank while popping in to various souvenir and local shops on the southern bank.  Eventually we made it up to the Rathaus (city hall) where we found several riverboats, including one equipped with tons of Swarovski crystals.

The clouds and rain rolled back in, so we decided to take a riverboat tour rather than walking around in the rain.  We got to take a number of good pictures  of buildings we would not have seen if we had stayed on land.  Of course, it was also fun to be on a boat again, and the tour boats always offer some tidbits of information about the history and customs of the surrounding areas.

After the boat ride, the rain continued, so we visited a massive, beautiful church called Stephansdom (St Stephen's Cathedral).  The ceiling frescoes here rivaled any we have seen (...except the Sistine Chapel...).  With the rain lightening a little and 2 hours before the next train home, we decided to climb the hill to the hohenfestung, which houses the local youth hostel and a history museum.  From this perch above the city we were able to appreciate the landscape and the careful organization of Passau's city center.  (And we got a feeling for how far we had walked already!!)

The most memorable part of this trip is the high-water marker on the city hall building which documents various all-time high-water levels from the many floods which have inundated the city over the centuries.

Day 1 - Munich to Lindau, through Landsberg, Kempten, Immenstadt.

In heavily Catholic Bavaria, Easter weekend is always a four day event as Good Friday is a state holiday, as is Easter Monday.  This gave us a great opportunity to head toward the Rhine valley around the time when 'Spring' begins in that region (which is always the warmest part of Germany).  One week in advance, the weather looked promising and Chris finalized our rental car and hotel bookings.  Only then did the 'other shoe drop' and the forecast degenerated from highs in the low 60's to highs in the mid-30's with snow at at least some point each day!!

Nonetheless, we picked up our little Ford Focus wagon, armed ourselves with "Jason", our trusty GPS, and braved the lightly falling snow early Friday morning.  Since we wanted to really see the land, we only drove the autobahn for about 45 minutes as we left, Munich headed west.  The snow lightened and turned to cold rain as the sun warmed things up a little, and we made our first stop in Landsberg am Lech, about an hour southwest of Munich.  A very well preserved town, Landsberg is home to a beautiful square lined with old buildings, an 18th century Rathas (City Hall, complete with the compulsory clock tower), and a fountain tribute to the Virgin Mary.  The Lech river, which runs through town is quite a sight thanks to a beautifully consistent three-tiered dam.

The next stop for us was Kempten, with an impressively large 17th century church, Basilika St Lorenz.  However, it was too damn cold and snowy to get out and walk around since both the church and the royal residence next door were closed for good Friday.  As we drove on toward the southwest the snow continued to alternate with rain, but we made it to our next destination, castle ruins from the early 1500's named Laubenbergstein.  Tours ore only given one day a month so we only had the chance to walk around the courtyard and old stables. However, castles of this period are not very common and this one held a special appeal as it was not a fairy tale royal castle, but instead the defense fortress of some feudal lords.  With Danielle nearly in a boredom coma, we got out and walked around Immenstadt, where we 'petted' brass goats at the town fountain before visiting the beautiful 17th century St Nikolaus church.

As "Day 1" began to wind down, we found our hotel on the outskirts of Lindau, in a tiny little finger of Bavaria sandwiched between Baden-Würtenberg and Austria to connect with Bodensee (Lake Constance).  The hotel staff recommended a mexican restaurant about 1 mile out of town. As we drove through the fields and approached the place, we became a little nervous that this might be too 'local' a place, but we gathered our courage opened the door....where we were encountered the guard dog.  The place was empty, but friendly and it turned out to be much better than we hoped.  Chris ordered a steak, but missed the subtle point that it would be served raw, for 'selbstkochen' (self-cooking) on a 400 degree stone!!  This was a great surprise and the steak was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.  (Chris has no idea what Danielle ordered, he was completely engaged in the steak!!)

Day 2 - Lindau to Freiburg, (Bodensee coast and southern Black Forest). Chris' Birthday

We got an early start on Lindau in order to beat the throngs of tourists who come to wander the quaint lakeside village in an amazing setting.  The harbor is guarded by Henry, the lion mascot of Bavaria.  We enjoyed strolling the streets to admire various shops and homes ranging from towers to row houses and the frescoed Rathaus.  After a fun morning, we drove along the coast of the Bodensee through several small towns set between miles and miles of grape vines.  We even stopped off to buy a few bottles of various local wines.  We stopped in Friedrichshafen to eat our picnic lunch on the shoreside promenade.

With the beautiful, mediterranian feeling of the Bodensee area fading in our rearview mirror, we set out for Singen, where we visited the Festung Hohentwiel, a massive fortification built upon the only hill for miles, which affords amazing views, but was probably more valuable for the millitary superiority such a position provides.  We reached the fortress only after 5 minutes driving up a 12% grade and then walking 20 minutes further up from the parking lot.  Once we got to the top, there was a fair amount of snow on the path and the courtyards (this would prove a bad omen as Chris slipped in the snow and we lost a camera...but this was also just the beginning of the snow we were to experience...).  Luckily, it was a sunny day, so Chris' cellphone camera was able to take good enough pictures to help us remember and share this historic site.  The next bit of luck was that we were only 3 miles from a well-known electronics discount store, where we were able to replace the broken camera at a reasonable price so we could keep providing good pictures for your enjoyment (...okay, okay, for Chris' enjoyment!).

Moving on into the Black Forest from the southeastern side, we were slowly climbing higher and higher, which would not have been obvious except for the increasing quantities of snow on the road side and increasing presence of hairpin curves.  In the early evening we stopped for our first fill up, which cost more than $75 for less than 3/4 of a tank for a Ford Focus!!  I felt sympathetic for the US Solider who was filling up his Lincoln Navigator at the same station...  A little lighter in the wallet, we continued through the forest as the sunset, but first we passed through "Hirschsprung" (Stag's Leap), where legend tells a daring male deer elluded persuing hunters by jumping over this extremely narrow, but several hundred foot tall crevice through which a winding Bundestrasse now runs.  At the point most narrow point the crevice is wide enough for two skinny traffic lanes with absolutely no shoulder (or margin for error!).   We arrived in Freiburg late that evening where we checked in to the B&B Hotel, with it's cool hedgehog paint scheme!

Day 3 - Freiburg to Heilbronn, (Feldberg, Titisee-Neustadt & Triberg)
Chris' Birthday

The morning of day 3 in Freiburg was quite cold, but the overnight rain had stopped so we explored the city center with its famous "Munster" church, street-level irrigation canal system, and intricate tiled sidewalk shop signs from centuries past.  One of the more interesting buildings in town is the bright red frescoed merchant's hall, which was built in 1532.  Here's us, trying to look like we're not freezing...

Back in the warmth of our rental car, we headed south to a small mountain village called Todtnau where we visited Germany's tallest natural waterfall.  The very windy, steep roads leading to Todtnau were an adventure, especially because the temperature was falling while the snow pack was increasing...but the scenery was absolutely worth the challenge of driving!  This was our first chance to admire a weather phenomenon my co-workers talk about often (I've forgotten the name...).  See, in Germany the winter is so cold that when fog moves in it freezes on the trees.  The winter is often very still as well, which means the tiny layers of frozen fog stack up morning after morning until all the branches are covered in beautiful crystalline shapes.  After playing around on our way to the waterfall, we headed toward Feldberg, a ski area at an altitude of 1233 meters (about 4000 feet).

From there we set out for the Romantic Road ("Bundestrasse 500") which runs north and south through much of the Black Forest.  The trip was spotted with beautiful towns and the occasional small ski slope.   In a quaint little town called Schönwald, we the most snow we've ever seen...especially on March 23rd!  It was already 3pm before we reached our first planned stop of the day: Triberg, the un-official world capital of cuckoo-clocks. It was freezing, but we ate lunch at a stand-up cafe, next to the huge waterfall that ran through the middle of town...but we couldn't find a good place to sit!  I guess the weather was relatively bad because the firemen were out maintaining the streets with high-powered road salt.  We spent the rest of this day winding our way up through the snow covered Black Forest one village (and snow-ball fight) at a time until we reached the autobahn near Stuttgart and we shot like bullets to our hotel in Heilbronn.

Day 4 - Heilbronn, Schwaben, München
After a good night's rest in Heilbronn, we explored the city center, with the usual old defense tower, rathaus, and massive church.  We were about half an hour early for watching the glockenspiel, so Chris played in the frozen fountain while Danielle savored some Starbucks.  Outside of Heilbronn, we headed for Löwenstein where we would enter the Schwäbish Forest, but we found instead had to stop by "Umleitung" (a detour) because the roads were closed.  Thanks to the GPS, we made another route through the forest and saw more great scenes on our way to Schwäbisch Hall.  Heading south, each turn seemingly presented either a small ski slope or one of the countless wandering paths between Schwäbisch Hall and an area of the forest where the land rolls upward in to Schwäbisch Gmund, a civic center for the surrounding farm land, and home to our favorite McDonalds in Baden-Würtenberg.  Leaving Schwaben, we passed through Heidenheim an der Brenz, and crossed the river back into Bavaria.  From here we trolled down the autobahn between Augsburg and Munich in the midst of holiday traffic complicated by raod construction (...it happens everywhere!).

By late February, winter above the 48th parallel approaches depressing, so we booked a flight south to Rome, where the weather was drier with highs pushing 70.  Upon arrival we quickly realized we weren't in Germanic country any more, and our German language skill would not be much help.  Ai Treni? To the Trains (thank God for Lonely Planet books!)  By the time we got on the train from the airport to Rome proper, we had resigned ourselves to the role of "stupid American tourist" and focused on learning 'please', 'thank you', and numbers 1-5 in Italian...

After buying our train tickets from a street-side tobbacco dealer (which feels very shady and, in hindsight, was our hint of mafia influence), we wandered haplessly down Via Cavour and stumbled upon the first of several magnificent churches, Bascilica Santa Maria Maggiore.  We the found refuge in the first McDonalds we could find, which was on the edge of a busy traffic circle in front of the national opera house at Plazza della Republica.  Here, we discovered, Bascilica St Mary of Angels and Martyrs, an impressive church in historical ruins of Diocletian thermal baths.  This bascilica is home to one of the most accurate meridian lines in the world.  From there we dodged raindrops and mopeds along Via del Tritone, where we saw a fountain of Triton which was nothing in comparison to the Trevi Fountain.  This beautiful fountain dates from 1732 and depicts Neptune riding in a chariot and is recieves it's gushing water supply from one of the olded aqueducts in Rome.

With the classic Rome photos now safely in hand, we worked our way down the narrow, tourist-trap filled alley toward the Spanish Steps.  This is one of the many places in Europe that reinfoces the feeling that no one has anything to do: only about half of the people you see on the stairs are tourists...the rest are locals from teenagers to old men reading the paper.  Europeans seem to enjoy congregating in public to do nothing in particular!!  Check out our "Where's Waldo" photos: Chris | Danielle .

Sitting on the Spanish Steps, one looks down Via del Conditti toward Via del Corso, two major shopping avenues, which was too much for Danielle to resist... A few hours of window shopping later, we found ourselves in Plazza del Popolo, with it's elegant fountains, twin churches, and an ancient Greek obelisk which was brought to Rome by Augustus.  As the sun would soon be setting we decided to try to tackle the next challenge of getting our luggage from the train station and finding our hotel.  We picked a great hotel called "Zone", which was outside of the real heart of the city in a residential area only 2 train stops from the downtown area.  Unfortunately, our weak Italian knowledge and a lack of advanced planning set us up for our first European tranist mistake: we unknowingly boarded an express train.  As we chugged through the first station we quickly began to suspect our error, however it was much too late as we went zooming through the second station.  Forty-five minues later the train made it's first stop in Cesano di Roma, well outside of Rome, but luckily still in the area of validity for our train tickets!!  We considered our selves very lucky because we did not face a fine, or end up on a regional train to another part of Italy and when we got of the train another (non-express) train was waiting there to take us back toward Rome.  A friendly Italian helped us confirm (through a broken Italian and English conversation) that this train would take us where we needed to go.

We started Day 2 where we ended Day 1 (in Plazza del Popolo) and climbed the stairs to Villa Borghese, a vast park in the midst of the urban jungle of Rome.  A truly serene environment, this park offers great views of the city and peaceful settings for relaxation.  On our way back down from Villa Borghese, we passed a few more Roman ruins and a modern art musuem with a fascinating waterfall fountain.  A little further down the road Danielle found the quintessential Italy photo.  Soon, we found ourselves (surprisingly) on the banks of the Tiber river staring over at Palazzo di Giustizia, an impossing, intricately decorated palace that was built between 1888 and 1910 from travertine stone and now houses the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Next we visited Piazza Navona, one of the busiest and most famous squares in Rome, which is always full of tourists, artists, and street hawkers.  It is home to three artistic fountains and is skirted by several architecturally significant buildings. we got good pictures of Fontana del Nettuno, and Fontana del Moro, but the more famous and storied Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was obscured by restoration hardware.  The later fountain was designed and executed by Gianlorenzo Bernini, and represents the four major rivers of the known world at the time (it was erected in 1651): the Nile, the Ganges, the Danube, and the Plate.

A little south of Piazza Navone is a smaller, less crowded, but more quaint square (Campo de' Fiori) that serves double duty as the local farmer's market in the morning before filling with chairs and tables from surrounding cafes during lunch and dinner hours.  Nearby, Palazzo Farnese houses twin fountains placed symmetrically in the square are actually granite bath tubs from an ancient Roman bath.

By now we were hungry and decided to return to Piazza Navona for lunch.  During our lunch, we enjoyed a street performance by an Italian Opera singer.  Recharged by lunch, we headed for the Pantheon, the best preserved building from ancient Rome.  The Pantheon has been a Christian church for over 1400 years, but the physical building dates from AD 120, when it was a temple dedicated to the classical gods.  Inside, the sheer size of the semispherical dome soaring 142 feet above the floor is awe-inspiring.  The oculus (a 30 foot hole) in the roof provides light while a carefully sculpted marble floor channels rain water away through 22 very small holes.  The interior of the Pantheon is baren of any furniture, but the walls are detailed with amazingly well preserved artworks as well as tombs of kings Umberto I and Vittorio Emanuele II as well as renaissance painter Raphael.

Sombered by the historical significance and subdued atmosphere of the Pantheon, we were relieved to read that very close by we could visit Piazza della Minerva to enjoy "Elefantino", a playful  Bernini statue of an elephant carrying a 6th century oblesik.  Here we also took in the beauty of Chiesa di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, a 13th century Dominician church.  Then it was time for our first gelato -- Italy's finest product in Chris' opinion!

We ended day two sitting on the steps along Piazza Venezia, watching the sun set over the Vitteriano, known to Romans as "the typewriter" or "the wedding cake".  Popular legend says Romans dislike this monsterous tribute to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of unified Italy, though it is now also home to the tomb of the Unknown Solider.  Guards keep watch day and night over tourists and visitors to ensure noone disgraces the monument in even the slightest way...you are not even allowed to sit on the steps of the monument!!  Piazza Venezia also provided a preview of some of our territory for Day 3 (Saturday): the Imperial Forum and the Roman Forum.

Saturday began with an early trip to the Collosseum to try to avoid the extraordinarily long lines that form if you arrive after 10am.  After getting held up by a Roman Soldier (literally -- he charged 10 Euros for his buddy to take a picture with our own camera, but only indicated his outrageous fee after the picture was taken...), we made it inside pretty quickly. However, Chris was enthralled with the history, architecture, and the stories in the audio guide, so our self-guided tour took almost an hour and a half!! (Pictures start here and go on for 3 pages!)

Continuing our tour of ancient Rome, we first climbed up to a 16^th century botanical garden, Orti Farnesiani, on Palatine Hill, where Rome was founded.  Remains of ancient Roman palaces are littered between castles from the Middle ages build on the edge of the ancient stadium.   Palatine Hill over lookis the Roman Forum where we got a great view of the layout, which helped us get oriented  The large structure with three giant archways in the background of that photo is the truly humongous Bascillica di Constantino.  Meanwhile, the rountunda with green, weathered copper doors in the left-middle of the picture is the Tempolo di Romolo (Temple of Romulus).  These are the most impressive and largely intact ancient structures in this location, though we did have the chance to drop in on Tempio di Giulio Cesar, the temple erected in 29 BC on the spot where Julius Caesar's body was burned. (Here's a look inside)

We exited the Roman Forum and climbed a narrow staircase up Capitoline Hill to Plazzo Senatorio to check out the statue of Marcus Aurelius, situated between buildings of the Capitoline Musuems, the world's oldes national museums.  We then made our way down Cordonata, Michaelango's grand sloping staircase that was designed to accomodate royal entrances on horse back. At the bottom we had to pass between two very hungry, but quite docile ancient Egyptian lions .

Next, we had an adventure trying to take the local train 2 stations to Trastevere ... Someone got some luggage or a body part stuck between the train and the platform while trying to board the train, so it was stuck in the station for about an hour.  Luckily for us, an old Italian lady adopted us for a few minutes and led us to another train that would take us onward without having to wait out the train drama.  In Trastevere we visited yet another church and searched for a place for dinner, but not before finding an interesting statue of Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, a famous native son poet from the early 19th century.  Trastevere is definitely the calmer section of Rome and helped to soothe our minds after a long day of absorbing ancient Rome.

Our last day, Sunday, started with a roller-coaster-like ride in the hotel's free shuttle van, which dropped us off in the vicinity of the Vatican, at Plazza Cavour.  Making our way over to the Vatican, we passed by Castel Sant' Angelo, a major landmark in the form of a round fortress on the edge of the Tiber (but now soundly in the heart of Rome).  It was originally a mausoleium for Emperor Hadrian, but served as a fortress for popes after the 6th century.  The castle also harbored hundreds of Romans in the 16th century while Rome was sacked by Emperor Charles V.

We then made our way out of Italy and into the Vatican City where our first stop was St Peter's Basillica . You must pass through metal detectors and pretty strict security to enter the Basillica and the related buildings, and we were glad we arrive early because the 5 minute line we waited in eventually stretched around Piazza San Peitro and had an estimated wait of over an hour!!  After touring the basillica, we wanted to take advantage of the special offer of attending the Vatican musuem (and seeing the Sistine Chapel) for free, which is possible on the last Sunday of every month.  As we approached the musuem, we very quickly found out that we were not the only people in Rome who were aware of this great deal that saves you the $20 per person entry fee... as we rounded the corner and our GPS indicated another 1 mile to the entrance, we stumbled upon a line snaking away from the museum.  More than 2 hours later (and only 15 minutes before the entrance closed), we finally got inside.  The musuem is amazingly large with more art than a mere mortal could absorb in a single day... let alone the 90 minutes we had to race through!  We adopted a "take a photo and keep moving" approach, which constitues several pages of our photo album.

Sunday evening we wondered between the Imperial Forums, the park around Villa Borghese, and a sidewalk-supper while taking in the other tourists at the Trevi Fountain after sunset.

We started February off with a new travel experience: we took a EuroCity night train from Munich to Vienna, Austria.  When we bought our tickets for the train to leave Munich around 11pm Thursday and arrive in Vienna before 7am Friday, this seemed like a great plan.  However, once we boarded the train, we quickly came to understand why "dopple liegezimmer" tickets would have cost an extra $50 per person... The normal seats do not recline at all, the interior lights stay on all night while countless European dialects are spoken loudly into the wee hours of the morning!

Once off the train ride from hell, we found Vienna to be calm and pleasant, though we did have to fight with the luggage storage machine before we could leave our load and head off to explore!  We headed out for the old town on the U-bahn station Stephansplatz, where the Stephansdom casts it's gothic shadow down onto cobblestone streets.  With most stores and sights not yet open (it was almost 8am...), we wandered around and took early morning photo opportunities, including a dandy of "creative vandalism".

Danielle was interested in the Spanish Riding School (Spanische Hofreitschule), where Lippanzaner horses and their riders have been trained for equestrian ballet for more than 400 years.  We were not able get tickets to an event during our stay, but we did camp out at a nearby Starbucks long enough to sneak a peek at the horses as they trotted from the stable to the arena.

After seeing these beautiful horses, we happened upon Michaelerplatz, a busy traffic circle encased by spectacular statues on the Michaelertor, and the ancient (if demure) Michaelerkirche. In the middle of the traffic circle one would expect to find an oblesik or fountian, but instead you can peek in on ancient Roman ruins.  We then spent the rest of the day wandering amgonst the pleathora of architectural sights Vienna has to offer including: Neue Hofburg (New Palace), the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the elephant in front of the Naturhistorisches Museum,  and don't forget the kissing horses!

On Saturday, Chris led the hunt for the an animated Ankeruhr, a clock with 12 scenes, one for each hour (start here).  Later that day, we braved the cold winds of European winter to visit Schloss Schönbrunn ("castle of the pretty well"),   We could not take photos inside this huge, gorgous, ornate, summer palace of Viennese royalty, but the expansive grounds, gardens, zoo (see a model), Desert House, Flower House, and the Gloriette will give you an impression of why we needed to come back again on Sunday!

The early grounds of Schloss Schönbrunn close early in the winter, so we shot accross town on the subway to the Bohemian "Prater" or fairground, which was of course closed for the winter, but we found some interesting sights nonetheless.  The main attraction is a huge ferris wheel with gondolas large enough to host a 10 person dinner party, though we found this giant globe entertaing as well!!  Later we found two Austrian casinos and an ATM in the belly of a pig who blew smoke from his nostrils!  After a long day of walking we visited a famous ice cream shop where Danielle had the good sense to order "Spaghetti" ice cream! 

While returning to our hotel, we decided to stop off at the largest temporary artificial outdoor ice skating rink in the world which Vienna constructs in front of their amazing gothic Rathaus (City Hall) every winter.

January 2008
Back in Munich

I've been back in Germany for just a week... It has been nice to be home with Chris, have a very lean schedule, and low stress. We did have some fun social engagements this week, as three of Chris' coworkers from the Norcross office were here for the week. We started off Monday at the Hofbrauhaus for some good beer drinking. Tuesday we hit the great Australian Ex-patriot bar, Outland for a mean Bush Burger and Caipis, which are like Mojitos, but generally better. Wednesday we took a day off and Thursday we had the gang over to the apartment for dinner. I fixed this great pasta dish with shrimp, crawfish, sundried tomatoes, and olives...yumm...what can I say; I am honing my culinary skills. It was great to see Todd, Steve, and Julius; we enjoyed the time we spent with them.

Then it was on to planning the weekend. I knew the weather was going to be nice, so Saturday we ran some errands, bought some new German language books, hit up the Geldautomat (ATM), and ate at a great new Café for lunch-Schwabing Café, to be exact. I asked Chris what he wanted to do on Sunday, and he told me it was my job to make a plan.so I did!

On Sunday we went to the Neue Pinakothek art museum and saw great works by Degas, Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, and other great painters and sculptors from the 1700s and 1800s. The museum was actually started by Ludwig I to house his personal collection of art. The variety was vast; there were over 400 works of art on display, a small selection of the 3,000 available paintings. It was very impressive. My favorites were Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Monet's Water Lilies; two paintings that I grew up loving. I also found a new Van Gogh favorite, The Plain at Auvers.

After walking through the whole museum we went to a coffee shop and talked about what we saw.I may never be able to make the Sunday plan again! Haha.Chris is a good sport about art and culture and I did learn some new things about my husband today. I learned that he likes pictures with water, dogs, and crisp edges (ie-he wants to know exactly what the painter saw when he painted, not, as he put it, how the artist felt about what he saw). A painting with all three of the above would be the best option he says. So, needless to say, if I find an abstract museum, Chris may be waiting it out at home. After our cultural day we took a stroll in the Olympic Park. It was a beautiful day with sunshine and temperatures in the 50s-it would have been impossible to resist!

Stay tuned, as one of my goals for the week is to plan the trip for Vienna and start the planning for Rome.

 

Merry Christmas! As many of you know, Chris Parents, Peggy and Sonny, came to stay with us for the holidays; they were in Munich from the 8^th to the 31^st of December. His sister Jennifer also joined us on the 17^th and stayed until the 31^st. We all had a great time together! We were certainly cozy in the apartment; we made do with the small space, but at one time or another, we all wished there was a second bathroom! But alas, don't think we are crazy! During Jen's two week stay the five of us traveled together to Nuremberg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber on one four day trip and to Salzburg just after Christmas on another four day trip. So, as you can see we were not in Munich the whole time. Chris was able to take the last two weeks of the year off from work, which was wonderful! Not only did he get a long break, but it allowed us to take some great trips!

The first week that Peggy and Sonny were in town, we spent most of it in Munich. We did spend a whole day at Dachau touring the Concentration Camp (please see the entry about this day trip.) We also spent lots of time at the Weinachtsmarkt located in the main square downtown Munich. There are booths with beautiful hand painted ornaments, handmade wooden children's toys, jewelry, candles, and other goods that have to do with Christmas decorations. In addition to these booths, there are the ever popular food booths! Yumm!! Booth after booth had every kind of sausage, Pommes Frites (French fries), Gluhwein, Café, chocolate covered fruit on a stick, pastries, candy, roasted nuts, and many other treats.  It was fun to go and see what everyone was eating and then go figure out where you could get the same thing!

We also went to a number of Churches in Munich. We went to Frauen Kirche, or the main Cathedral, which is said to have the footprint of the devil in the floor (I saw it). We almost missed the Asamkirche because its fairly modern façade get lost among the store fronts that surround it; no, I'm not kidding. Though on the outside it really just looks like a large set of double doors, the inside it incredibly ornate. It use to be the family chapel of the Asam brothers, who built it. We also went to Michaels Kirche (Largest Renaissance church north of the Alps), which can only be described as huge-huge and simple.

We also ate at some of the great restaurants here. We had some oriental flavors at the Wok and Roll Chinese Restaurant, some great German fare (well, I had a brat and mashed potatoes, but the others enjoyed more traditional German food) at the Hofbrauhaus and at the Ratskeller, which is the restaurant in the basement of the Rathaus (City Hall). We also went on a Bier Tour. We got to taste four or five different types of local beer, see a movie about how beer is brewed, see the Oktoberfest Museum, and try a variety of local cuisine; we had a great guide and had a blast.  All of these restaurants were wonderful experiences enjoyed by all.  The best restaurant of all was the Kitchen de Wunn.haha, but we ate a lot of meals at the apartment; I must admit that my cooking is better now than it ever has been before!

We also spent an afternoon up in the Olympic Tower that is about a 15 minute walk from our house. The day we went was pretty clear, and though we couldn't see the Alps, which you frequently can from the park, we could see our apartment building and many of the other recognizable buildings and churches in Munich. There is a very fast elevator in the tower that gets you to the top in 21 feet per second!

It was wonderful for Chris and me to have family with us during the holidays. Even though we were far from most of our family and friends this year, we were thinking about all of them! You can see in the pictures that we had a low key Christmas with lots of chocolate and stocking stuffers, but we did get a great tree here. I am bringing it back to the states, and I will always have a German Christmas tree. After three weeks with Peggy, Sonny, and Jen we put them back on a plane on the 31^st of December. The funniest thing was that I jumped on the plane with them! Ha!

 

 

Dachau Concentration Camp
Outside of Munich, Germany

Chris' parents came to visit us in Germany on December 8^th. One of the things they wanted to see was the Dachau Concentration Camp that is less than an hour's train ride west of Munich. We decided to take a guided tour of the grounds to get the full effect of the history and significance of events that took place there. 

Before I go any further, I must say that it was truly humbling to experience this place on a day that the temperature didn't even reach 28 degrees Fahrenheit; it was extremely cold, despite the many layers and fancy Columbia boots and hat that I was wearing. It was hard to imaging dealing with such temperatures with only a thin jacket and old boots. What is also very amazing about the grounds is how quiet the area is-there are no sounds, no cars driving by (though the road isn't far), no dogs barking, just serene quiet. It is an atmosphere of contemplation, a true opportunity to look and digest the surroundings without any distractions; a very thoughtful thing when considering what the surroundings are.

Though we all had some basic knowledge about concentration camps and what happened, learning the specifics of Dachau was very interesting and shocking at the same time. Everything I write is true for Dachau, but not necessarily so for the other concentration camps located throughout central Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. Dachau was the concentration camp brainchild, the example that many of the other camps were modeled after. Dachau, before the war ever started, was used as a "political reeducation" camp for those that opposed the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party for short). People were sent there to be educated on the party's beliefs, and when the "prisoner" had successfully completed the course, he was allowed to leave the camp. During these days, people could bring personal belongings, and it wasn't nearly as harsh as what others would later suffer on the same spot of land.

Later, it became a work camp; forcing thousands of prisoners (only about one-third of them were Jews) to work. The first thing that Nazi prisoners and current visitors of Dachau see when they enter is the famous door that states "Arbeit Macht Frei", literally translated means "Work makes you Free." I know this phrase is used at other camps, but again probably originated here.

You can see in some of the pictures the bunk houses that the people lived in. There were 30 such bunks all lined up in 2 rows in the main portion of the camp. There are only two recreated bunks left. All the others are marked with concrete markets to give the impression of how it looked. From my understanding the buildings had to be torn many years ago. You can see how the bunks were changed and grew throughout the years the camp was used. It was quite obvious that there was not enough space or enough facilities for the number of persons that shared each bunk. The number of people they would stuff in a bunk house is amazing; sometimes upward of 1,770 in a bunk house meant for less than one third of that total. On our tour, after the bunk houses, we saw the Administration Building, where they not only had offices, but prison cells for special prisoners. These people might include some clergy, writers, the guy who tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Hitler, and others the Nazis thought would be helpful to have in good condition at the end of the war they were undoubtedly going to win. Sidenote: we were told on the tour that when the Nazis in charge of the camp finally realized that they were not going to win the war, just a few weeks before US soldiers liberated the camp,  they executed many prisoners.

In the very back corner of the concentration camp, after walking past all of the bunk markers, we came to the Crematory. The original crematory was small and couldn't keep with the number of dying, so a larger Crematory was built just across from the old one. Also included in the new Crematory building was a gas chamber. It was never used-no one knows why it was never used, but it simply wasn't. We walked through it, stood in the room with the fake shower heads and no windows. The new "ovens" were bigger and had the capacity to burn more bodies at one time, but as the years drug on, there wasn't enough coal to burn the bodies, so they kept piling up.

The bunk houses and the Crematory are structures that are reminiscent of the WWII days. Now along with the memories of Dachau stand wonderful memorials to those that died there (and those that survived).  Just in 1994 (after the cold war when the US and Russia were on better terms) was the Russian chapel built there to commemorate the Russian soldiers who died at Dachau (best guess is somewhere between 4-10K, if I remember correctly). Now, the Germans were very detailed record keepers, but didn't deem the Russians-the ultimate enemy-even worthy of counting, so the exact number is unknown.) There is a Catholic Memorial that includes a huge bell that tolls every day at 3:00 pm to remember those that died and those who survived. There is a Methodist Church memorial there as well as a beautiful Jewish memorial.  There is also a nondenominational memorial that is a tribute to all those who lost their lives at Dachau. It is a beautiful sight that ends with a powerful phrase "never again" in five languages, which suggests with awareness nothing like the Nazi concentration camps can ever happen anywhere in the world again. There is a very extensive museum housed in one of the administration buildings that covers many aspects of the camp, the directors, the growth, and how it was run. I think it is also interesting to point out that every German student is required by the curriculum to visit at least one of the concentration camps during his or her years in school.

Dachau is a powerful place with graphic images and many stories. The cold, snowy day can be summed up as a humbling experience. For those of you interested in more information about Dachau and what can be seen there, please visit the official site.  We also took a few pictures, but the fail to do justice to the site, the story, or the memory.

Ski Season opened here around Thanksgiving time. Chris' co-workers decided that everyone should go skiing because the season was open again! Chris loves to ski and is good at it; me.not so great at skiing, but thought, what the heck, when will I ever have the chance to ski on a Glacier again?! So we drove to a village near the Glacier on Tuesday afternoon; it took us about two hours to get there. We stayed at this great Hotel, Hotel Almhof. The room included a 3 course dinner and breakfast buffet. Here they call this "half-pension". The dinner was so good! Have to fuel up because skiing will take a lot out of you! We had a great time with Chris' co-workers. I was able to speak German to all of them and I understood most of what they were saying to me, which made me feel great, considering that I had spent three hours a day for the last eight weeks in German class! After dinner, we all went next door to the bar and had some beer and Schnapps-all I can say is it burns going down!

The next morning we were up early, through the breakfast buffet, and ready for skiing about 8:30 am. We drove the last few miles to the base of the mountain. We knew it was going to be a great day because it was about 32 degrees and perfectly sunny! We skied all day under a bright blue sky with some wispy clouds. We walked up the base station and look the Gondola to the middle station. There we switched Gondola systems and headed for the top of the mountain. What I couldn't believe while riding in the Gondola was how the snow sparkled and glittered continuously across the slopes.  Once at the top, we rented our ski boots and skis. Chris and I were about the only ones that had to rent because, it seems if Europeans are going to go skiing and live that close to the mountains, they are going to own their own ski equipment. We came out all geared up and rode another ski lift and was ready to start this downhill adventure.or at least Chris was.I was desperately searching my mind to see if I still had the "How to Ski" chapter saved somewhere in there! Needless to say we were skiing on the blue slopes, the easiest that existed on this monstrous mountain. I was slow at the beginning, but managed to gain some confidence and was going fairly well for a while. Then we rode a lift to start another run down to the middle station where we were supposed to meet everyone for lunch. And then I ran into some trouble. The run was so steep I was really wondering how the heck I was even going to get down the slope.I knew it was bad because I contemplated taking off the skis and just walking down! BUT, with some careful coaxing from Chris I made my way down the slope very slowly and picked up speed and skied right up to the restaurant. Thank goodness it was time for lunch, because we were starving after a morning of skiing. After pizza, pasta, and an expensive bottle of water, we were off again.

We took the lift back to the top and headed down another very steep portion of the mountain, though it was considered an easy slope! After getting down that steep park the day continued to improve and I was able to ski better and faster than I ever had before. I only sat down twice (please note that I said "sat down"; I didn't fall, I chose to sit instead of skiing too fast. Chris was very patient with me and skied with me all day, even though he could have skied twice as fast as me! When the sun started setting about 4:30 it was time to turn in the skis and head home. We were tired, but very satisfied with what we accomplished. We had a great time together, and I imagine that there will be more skiing for us before we leave Germany. Enjoy the pictures; it was such a wonderful place with beautiful views!

 

After hanging out in Munich for two weekends, we were ready to hit the road again, or really the train tracks. We planned to celebrate Thanksgiving by heading to two different towns in Northern Bavaria: Regensburg and Bamberg. Both of these towns are fairly old and were virtually untouched by the destruction of WWII; it was refreshing to see some of the original architecture instead of just careful reconstructions of what used to be. We headed out to Regensburg a bit later than planned, as Danielle had a mild case of food poisoning the day before, but the travelling must go on!

It is about a two hour train ride to Regensburg and we were there in time for lunch. Regensburg is an old Roman town that was ruled by dukes, kings, and bishops for over 2000 years. It was also the first capital of Bavaria. There are parts of the Altstadt (oldtown) that look remarkably medieval. The town is beautiful, and one of the main attractions is the stone bridge that rises grandly over the Danube. After checking in at the tourist office, and walking over most of the stone bridge, we had a tour of the old town hall; and while some of the grand meeting rooms were closed for tours because they were preparing for the UNESCO Heritage City Gala, we did get to see the cellar that housed the torture chamber and jail cells. Torture was used as a means for confession, not even punishment! They felt like if a person was tortured and the wounds healed without infection (think flesh wounds after walking across burning wood) then it was a sign from God that they person was innocent, if the wounds didn't heal well, it was a sign that the person was guilty. There was a whole room full of torture devices. (Torture was finally outlawed in the 1700s.) After the person was found guilty (ie...after he was tortured) he was held in prison awaiting public punishment. There were two types of cells 1. Small underground cement cells that had a entry from the top that was completely dark 2. Small wooden cells that were not tall enough to stand in, with a small slot for them to put the bread through, and again completely dark. Ick. All punishment of criminals was done publicly to deter other citizens from committing any crimes...large or small.

After that experience, we decided that we would head for the hotel. On our way back to the Hauptbahnhof (train station) to retrieve our luggage, we passed a rather large mushroom in the park; it was a coffee shop! I had the best cappuccino there. The coffee here in Germany is very bitter, and not very good at all in my opinion ( but then again, Chris and I have been coffee snobs and import our coffee ever since honeymooning in Costa Rica), so it was a treat to have a tasty warm treat. It was so good; I went back the next day for another! Our hotel was very nice with a bathroom in the room (often considered a luxury here). We went out to dinner at a great Italian restaurant with virtually endless pasta bowls, even though they only bring you one. I couldn't even eat half of my portion and the waiter looked offended when I told him I was done. I assured him that the food was wonderful, but there was just too much of it! >br />
The next morning started early with breakfast at the hotel. Then it was on to the City Museum that had an unbelievable collection of artifacts from the town's birth to present. Most of it characteristic Roman stone work with tributes to the Mythical Gods. We walked through the town and enjoyed many churches, stores, and an active town compared to many that we have visited. We did find out too, that the town would be celebrating that particular evening the UNESCO City Heritage listing with a party and fireworks! We did a little shopping and went to a very eclectic abstract art museum, all the works on display were by the same artist. Later that evening we came back to the town center for the festivities. There were tents sent up by many of the local restaurants selling food and drinks. We had Mexican food...go figure. If you couldn't tell by reading many of our entries, I am not crazy about traditional Bavarian cuisine. But the Bavarians themselves like other types of food, so it all works out well. Anyway, Chris had to try "Bauernbeir" (a farmer's Bockbier). It was a dark beer to begin with, and then a red hot iron rod, straight out of the fire, made it mostly beer foam. It was interesting to try, but not one that will be repeated. The beer kinda had a burnt taste. I stuck to the Gluhwein, which is a tasty hot red wine with spices...my kind of drink! They had live music playing and there were people everywhere. We certainly hit this town on a great weekend. Usually after 6pm there isn't much to do except eat dinner. We enjoyed the festivities and made our way over to the stone bridge where they were going to set off the fireworks. We claimed about the best seat in town (the key here is we actually sat on a brick wall, and compared to the 100s of Germans standing around us, the seats were a nice touch). The fireworks were a little late starting, but it was a show to remember. The music was patched together, and progressed through the ages, Motzart, to Big Band, to the Beatles, to the 90s; though it really sounded as if they were taking one record off the player and had to put another on!! The fireworks themselves were very pretty, but Chris and I agreed they had nothing on the 4th of July fireworks that we see in Atlanta every year. (Some could barely get above the bridge 50 feet above the small island they were being launched from...)

The next morning it was up and at 'em early. We caught a train over to Bamberg. We were there on a Sunday, a day when most stores and businesses are closed. It was also unbelievably cold and blustery that day. We headed toward the tourist office, hoping for some heat, a map, and some stay warm ideas. Well, we found a heated office and a map, but the ladies working in the office kept saying that the best the town had to offer should be seen on foot... First stop on the walking tour: the Altes Rathaus which is built in the middle of the Danube River that flows through the city (a pretty cool sight). The City Hall was very lavishly painted and stood out against the surrounding buildings. Next we trudged up to the Dom (Cathedral), about 200 feet above the city center. It is a beautiful Church and people were pulling up, ready for Sunday services. We then walked through the old Palace where we visited a carefully manicured garden with an incredible view over Bamberg. There were still roses and flowers in bloom, despite the snow.

There were parts of the town that just seemed old and genuine, which was refreshing, because there was not much war damage in Bamberg. Then it was up the big hill to Kloster St Michael, a former monastery, which is now an old person's home. From the top of the hill, there was a great view of the whole city, covered in red-tiled roofs. After walking down the mountain, we found "Little Venice": a row of ram-shackle houses right on the river! Some looked like they were sinking into the river while others appeared to defy gravity with help from the neighboring houses. I'm sure they are treasures to have in the spring and summer. By this time, I was completely frozen from head to toe, so we headed back into town to find some lunch. We found a pizza place that actually had BBQ chicken pizza, it sure was tasty! Though, I have to say it was the first time I had ever had pizza and a Latte together at the same sitting! After a full day, we had seen everything that Bamberg held for us, and we headed back to the train station. All in all, it was a great trip. We were also able to mark off two of the "1,000 Places You must see Before You Die", not bad for a three day weekend!

Chris had Thursday and Friday, Nov 1 and 2, off because of All Saints Day in Germany. We left on the 5:55 a.m. train with all of the teenagers who had come to Munich for the Halloween Parties. Needless to say it was an interesting ride...as it is very common to drink and ride here. It was very foggy and we could only see about 100 feet on either side of the train, but we did see many cows with cow bells around their necks! When we got to Füssen, the very definition of the end of the line, it was still cold and we had to wait about 45 minutes for the bus that would take us about 2 miles up the Road to the castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. (Of course we didn't know it was only 2 miles...) We walked into town and found a café for some coffee and croissants ...quite tasty on a cold, damp morning.

Later, the bus dropped us off at the bottom of a mountain (though we couldn't see it because of the fog). We started up the path toward Hohenschwangau, which was the castle of King Ludwig I, who was the father of the better know Ludwig II, who was very eccentric and died at the Sternberger See (please see older entry). It was a very lovely castle. We couldn't take pictures of the inside, but it was almost homey, if you can get a stone structure to be homey. The whole family lived there and shared meals together in a great dining hall with hand-painted murals depicting German knighthood tales. It was a relatively private castle, and was not used for State events, but for family time and a hunting castle for close friends of the Royal Family. There was a decedent of the royal family living in the castle until about 1907, but don't worry they already had electric lights installed throughout the castle. There was also a relatively modern chapel on the side of the mountain just below the Hohenschwangau Castle. As we were leaving the castle, the fog cleared rather suddenly, revealing the tops of the mountains, the majestic Neuschwanstein Castle, and also the valley which hosts a typical German village.

After the castle tour and a few photo ops, we started the 25 minute walk up the mountain to Newschwanstein, which will look familiar because Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disney Land was modeled after this grand castle perched on the side of the Alps. Again, we couldn't take pictures inside the castle, but it was an amazing site. The castle was still being finished when King Ludwig was found dead in 1879. Unfortunately, when he died, the funds were cut off, so all the work came to a halt. Less than a third of the castle was actually finished and it was opened to the public not long afterward. The family charged admission to recoup the funds and eliminate the debt that King Ludwig II had spent on his pet project. Apparently, this was a good idea: In less than a decade the family was out of debt. The inside of this castle was almost like a fairy tale, in fact, the castle was designed not by an architect, but by the royal set designer. Ludwig wanted to bring to life the scenes of Richard Wager's operas.

After this tour, we walked around part of the mountain to "e;Mary's Bridge"e;, which is where all of the famous pictures of the castle have been taken. You are WAY above a ravine, on a bridge with about 100 other people all trying to take pictures of the castle. I am not afraid of heights at all, and I was a little freaked out because the wood floor planks would move a bit with all of the weight on them. We could even see skydivers floating down from the mountain peaks while we were on the bridge.

After a yummy lunch of schnitzel and Quarkballs, we took the bus back to town. We stayed at this great Bed and Breakfast owned by The Jorde Family who used to live right in the middle of town, but when they had their fourth child, they realized they would need more space, so they moved to the outskirts of town and turned the original family house into a bed and breakfast. The rooms we warm and cozy, but the bathroom was a hoot (check out the picture of Chris in the WC). We slept great and had a feast the next morning for breakfast. We headed out about 7:15 to catch the Train to Augsburg, another town in Southern Germany.

Augsburg is about 45 minutes west of Munich in Bavaria. It is an old town that was shaped by the Romans and prospered from banking and trading. Two of the riches families that settled in Augsbug, The Fuggers and the Welsers, loaned money to kings and other countries, fostering great power in Augsburg. As great as this city sounds, it wasn't as interesting as we had hoped. The highlights were the three great fountains spread throughout the city; they are from the 1600s, made of bronze, and depict Augustus, Mercury, and Hercules...an obvious tribute to the city's Roman heritage. The other treasure of Augsburg was The Fuggeri, one of the oldest welfare settlements in the world. Started in 1521 for poor Augsburg citizens of the Roman Catholic faith, who, in return for one Rhenish gulden (about one Euro now, so about $1.47 USD) a year and three prayers a day can live in a quaint apartment. There is a museum that shows how residents lived in the past (probably about the 1800s) AND how residents live there today, as there are still 140 apartments being rented for $1.47 a year. It was very well kept compound and the people were relatively friendly. We read at the museum that most of the complex was destroyed during WWII, but immediately after the conclusion to the war, the complex was immediately rebuilt. Private funds of the Fuggeri's were used to rebuild, so it seemed to be restored very quickly. Needless to say it was a humbling experience.

We stayed in a Pension just up and across the street from the Fuggeri. It was a nice place, but not nearly as nice as the B&B in Füssen. We even found an all-you-can-eat (on the menu in English...apparently that is our concept) restaurant that served pizza, pasta, and Mexican food. It was a very interesting twist on Mexican Food, but none the less it was good. The next Morning we headed back to Munich.

On Sunday, November 4th, we went over to one of Chris' coworker's home for Kaffee and Kuchen. They have a 21 month old little girl, so Chris and I took turns entertaining her. She was adorable and loved having two extra adults to play with. I think her parents enjoyed the chance for someone else to play with her as much as we enjoyed playing. All in all, it was a great long weekend and we enjoyed our time very much!

Off to Heidelberg!

Chris and I started our German travels by visiting a city very close to my heart. My parents were married in Heidelberg Castle in 1974, and I spent one day in Heidelberg in 2000, on my whirl-wind trip of Europe, but that wasn't nearly enough. I know, it's pretty amazing to know someone who got married in the castle overlooking one of the most romantic cities in Europe...but I do! You can see pictures of Chris and I standing at the Altar where my parents said "I Do" many years ago.

Now, to start at the beginning, Chris and I took a train out of Munich on Friday evening. It takes about 3 hours, and we had to change trains in Stuttgart where they gave us 9 minutes to change trains!! All I can say is thank goodness the train has 2 doors per car, unlike the one airplane door...we hurried and had no problem making the train connection, but we were nervous since this was our first time! We arrived in Heidelberg with a Holiday Inn Hotel reservation; we knew the hotel was just over a mile from the Hauptbahnhof, but not sure of what direction, Chris pulled out his GPS toy and plugged in the address and got us there in about 20 minutes. The hotel was very nice and even had an ice machine (a major bonus in Eurpoe), but we now know that it is better to stay in the city center if possible.

Saturday morning, we started bright and early, stopping by Mikkie D's for some American Breakfast (SIDENOTE: Heidi Klum does Commercials for McDonalds here in Germany!! They are on TV quite often.) We stopped by the Tourist Office to buy our Heidelberg Cards, which gave us entrance admission to just about everything we wanted to see in the city as well as discounts to restaurants, boat rides, etc. We caught a bus at the train station and headed to the Altstadt (the old city) where all of the notable attractions can be found.

Heidelberg is home to Germany's oldest University, so studens account for much of the city's population. So, we started our tour by the Bibliothek (the Library). Next we made our way to the "Student Jail" which was used until 1914 to punish students convicted of misdeeds such as singing, drinking, or goofing around. When a student received a sentence, it was usually a minimum of three days, you could have meals brought to you by visitors, but you had to stay in the tower jail. If your sentence was long, you could leave to take exams and come back. The legend says that students needed to spend at least 3 days in the jail during their stay at the University to have the complete universiyt experience. You can see the many pictures of the paintings and poems written by those who had time to kill in the jail.

We also wandered through a museum about the University history, which was fairly interesting. The pictures of the Old Assembly Hall, which is still used today for functions and lectures, didn't turn out so well, but it is very ornate and more elaborate than any of the classrooms at the Oldest Women's College in the US (I know, I went there.)

It was a Saturday morning in a European City, so of course there was a market! You can see the pictures of the fresh fruits and veggies, the cheese vans, the meat trucks and the beautiful flower arrangements at the florist's stand. Chris and I bought some yummy bananas here. Next we were off to the church that backed up to the Market (Heiliggeistkirche, built from 1398-1441). We climbed all 204 stairs up to the top and took lots of aerial pictures of the city, the Nectar River, and the Castle. You can see a picture of the funicular railway, which goes up the mountain at grades of upto 45%. Chris and I rode that on Sunday, but the top of the church gave us by far the best view of the incline. After climbing down the many stairs on the skinny circular staircase (and passing people along the way), we headed out on the streets. Heidelberg has one of the longest pedestrian streets in Germany; it's lined with Pubs, restaurants, B &B's, and many shops and stores. (One thing to note: Heidelberg is a great city, if for no other reason than you CANNOT smoke in bars or restaurants in the city.) As you can see (careful...), the sex shop is right next to some apartments...can you imagine saying: "oh, Just look for the sex shop, I live right above it?!" Europeans are certainly more open about such matters. Next we came across the Brass Monkey Statue (go ahead, hum some Beastie Boys...) They say if you touch the mirror that the monkey is holding you will have wealth, if you touch his outstretched fingers you will return to Heidelberg, and if you touch the mice you will have many children. (I touched the mice because they were cute and before I knew the symbolic nature of the mice...)

Down the road a bit was a fire twirler street artist...just another tourist attraction. We went to a great museum (Palatinate Museum) that had history in the forms of paintings and sculptures, room furnishings, dishes and fashion from the 15th century to the 20th century. It was one of the best museums we have seen thus far, though we weren't allowed to take pictures and share it with you...

Next, we caught a boat ride down the Nectar River, which flows right through Heidelberg. We chose to take the Solar Schiff, which is powered by the sun (duh.) The houses on the river banks were amazing. Some looked new and contemporary, but the majority of them looked to be a few 100 years old. After our river tour we headed back to the hotel, but not before we stopped at Mandy's Diner, which was directly across from Patton Barracks, part of a US Army base that is located in Heidelberg. I was so excited, I made Chris take a picture of my first European sweet tea. It sure tasted great going down! They had Oldies playing and the burgers were great; the walls were covered in Advertisements from the 50s and 60s, so I was right at home. After waiting 20 minutes for the tram to take us half a mile from the hotel, we were exhausted and ready to hit the hay, knowing we had another day of sightseeing and traveling ahead of us...

Sunday morning we headed straight for the Castle high up on the hill overlooking the city. You can see the many pictures of the steep hill we walked up to get to the castle...The views from the balcony were amazing. We took a picture of the church from which we took all of the Castle pictures. The balcony we're standing on is where my parents had their wedding pictures taken and had their receiving line! Pretty crazy, huh? There are also many pictures of the castle in the gallery. You will notice that part of the castle lies in ruin; this damage was done long before WWII. Heidelberg was partially destroyed during the 30 Years War in the early 1600s. It was partially rebuilt and changed a few times, but hasn't been rebuilt or changed since 1900. Chris and I took the castle tour, which allowed us to see parts of the castle interior. The Great Hall is still used for events/proms/weddings and can be rented for just 900 Euros. There are two great pictures of the armor; both sets for a young man about 18 years old. Please note the long toes on one suit of armor. It appears that a knight could literally "kick his opponent's ass", but let me assure you (as I was assured by our guide), that it was just fashionable to have very long toe....

Heidelberg is also home to the world's largest wine keg. So large, in fact, that there is a dance floor on the top of it! What great fun. The large barrel holds 55,000 gallons of wine, and the smaller one (not the one Chris is leaning on) holds 11,000 gallons. All I wanted to say was "Show me the Tap!" Also housed in the castle is the Apotheke Museum; it shared the history of the pharmacy and the pharmacist in Europe. As our weekend excursion was coming to an end, we decided to eat at another American tradition, the Hard Rock Café. Then, we had to go to the train station so we could catch our train back to Munich. You can see that our train even had a caboose! The train was very comfortable and even had electrical outlets for the laptop, which was very convenient. While on the way home, we were already trying to decide where to go next. Chris has the 1st and 2nd of November off, so we're going to take advantage of that long weekend...more about our German adventures soon!

After a week of German class and homework (lots of homework...) Danielle was ready for some fun! So we decided to go check out the Olympiaeinkaufzentrum, which is one of the four malls in Munich. It was pretty big with lots of stores, Zara (I believe a Zara is opening in Lenox Mall this year), H & M, Galleria Kaufhof (like a Rich's), Claire's Accessories, Timberland, and some other American brands. There were lots of restaurants and little coffee places too. There were also bakeries, so the whole mall smelled wonderful. The mall on a normal Saturday in Munich is two times as crowded as a Saturday during December at the Mall of Georgia. I'm not kidding!! It is a sea of people...most not knowing where they really want to be. That made it a challenge to navigate at the least!. The prices on clothes and accessories look about what they would be in the States: $39.00 for a sweater, $50.00 for a nice pair of pants (obviously this depends on if you are in the designer section or just the Old Navy equivalent), So the prices LOOK the same... once you factor in the 40% that the Euro is over the dollar (1 euro = $1.40), things are 40% more expensive. The 39.00 euro sweater is really about $55.00 USD. Needless to say we are only buying what we really like... the mentality here is Quality over Quantity. One reason for this is that they have very little closet space (and storage space for that matter). So far Danielle's favorite purchase is a beautiful brown winter coat. She will get lots of use out of it over here!

Enough about the shopping (all of the male readers are probably bored by now, anyway). The next day we went to the Altes Pinakothek, which is a great art museum in town. It has paintings from the 1300s through the 1700s. Most of them depicted Christ, the Crucifixion, Mother Mary, or the Manger scene. It was interesting to see how so many different artists (some I had heard of but also many new names) have different ways of depicting the same events. Many created new surroundings for the same event. There are over 600 paintings and it was a bit overwhelming. We were lucky though, because the Munich Marathon was the same day, and the participants ran along two of the streets that ran next to the museum. So during the second half of our visit it when the marathon was going on it went something like this: painting of Christ, Picture of Mother Mary, window with marathon runners, Painting of the Crucifixion, Picture of Fruit, window with marathon runners at water stop... All in all, the museum was very enjoyable. There was also a Victorian Café in the bottom of the museum, where we had coffee and "Mississippi Mud Pie" it was very funny to order such an American Named thing in German! I think the waiter got a kick out of it!

Chris' coworker Todd, their boss Steve, and Todd's younger brother came for a business trip here in Munich on October 15. Monday evening we went to the Hofbrauhaus, which is probably the most famous place to drink beer and eat traditional Bavarian food in Munich. They have long tables and "Mass"es of Beer (a Mass is a heavy glass that holds a liter of beer). We had a great time and I think the table put away about 10 or 12 liters of beer that night. Tuesday we thought we would try something a little different and found an Australian Bar called "Outland". We had big burgers, "chips", and large mixed drinks. Yum! Our waiter was a hoot, and looked and sounded like your typical Australian guy. We decided to take a few nights off, but Friday we headed out to Salsalitos, a Mexican restaurant in town. It was loud, smokey, and seemed to turn into a dance club after 10 pm, but none the less they had Margaritas, tacos, and just about any other kind of Mexican food you can think of! A great time! Chris and I will be returning there at some point!

When Todd and his brother left on the 21st, they look Zepplin and Cedar with them back to Georgia. It was snowing the morning we loaded up the VW Golf rental car and drove to the airport. We certainly wondered if they would let the doggies travel when it was so cold, but the Delta workers in Munich didn't bat an eyelash and the dogs were processed and put on the plane. Of course they were met at the other end by Chris' parents and sister, who will be watching the pups until we are home next year.
After we got the dogs on the plane, we decided we would take advantage of the rental car (and avoid missing the dogs on a cold snowy day) so drove to Ingolstadt (about 40 miles north of Munich). We drove through the snow, which thankfully was only sticking to the metal of the cars but not the road. Ingolstadt is a cute little town that sits on the Danube River. We decided to visit the German Museum of Medical History. The museum "chronicles the evolution of medical sciences as well as the instruments and techniques used." There were instruments from Early Egyptian times, birthing chairs from the 1800s, preserved skeletons with muscle tissue still attached, a large collection of eyeglasses and dentistry tools from the 1800s and forward. Very interesting stuff. Most of the pictures didn't turn out well, but the dentistry room was well lit so you can get an idea of what we saw. See pictures.

By sheer luck the museum was opening a new exhibit about Euthanasia during WWII under Hitler's rule. This program was unrelated to well-known Jewish persecution, but instead involved the needless killing of the mentally ill (including children of all ages), the physically handicapped, and any other people that didn't fit the "perfect race" plan. Hitler made laws himself forcing Psychologists to evaluate all people in any mental institution to determine if they were fit to live. Despite a "positive" evaluation, even those that were mildly handicapped were sent away to other institutions (where gas chambers or human medical research facilities were set up) without notifying the families. The families were then in turn sent letters that told them their family member died of "a weak heart" or some disease. So-called Medical Research was important to the Third Reich and patients deemed "unproductive" in life were used to "research" how the body responds to vaccination again Malaria and other diseases, how much electric shock the body can take (the exhibit said no one survived these particular experiments), to what extent the body could handle severe cold, severe heat, high G-force, etc.

The exhibit was very humbling, but it also serves as a tribute to those who lost their lives this way. The current generation of the psychiatric professionals in Germany feels that is right to bring these atrocities to light and acknowledge them so they can gain the trust of the German population. We also learned that in almost any hospital in Germany there is a plaque dedicated to those who lost their lives during the WWII medical trials.

After learning much from that museum, we decided to enjoy something on the lighter side. So we went to the AUDI museum (Ingolstadt is the AUDI Headquarters). The museum is VERY impressive; a 4 story cylinder featuring a rotating lift with a dozen cars travling from the ground floor to the top and back again. Almost everything in this museum was written in German and English, so we could get the full story and all of the details. They had cars on display from 1901. What I found interesting was Mr. Horch started a car company in the 1890s and was very successful, but then he had a falling out with the other investors and left the company. He decided to start another company, but couldn't use his own name, because it had been previously trademarked. Horch decided to use the Latin word "Audi" which means "Hark" or "Listen" (which is the meaningof "Horch" in German). He was a very resourceful man, and needless to say his Audi brand outlasted his original Horch brand. The cars were amazing; the museum showed a progression from the hard wheeled buggies from the 1910s to the little roadsters of the 50s and 60s to the race car circuit for which Audi is famous.

After that we drove back to Munich. We drove through many different tiny towns nestled in the foothills. Most of the homes, barns and businesses could be plucked from the German countryside and dropped in Helen, Georgia. Chris got to take another drive on the Autobahn ;-). Even though they drive fast here, they are VERY courteous. No one uses the left lane except to pass, no one passes on the right, and no one rides the bumper in front of them. Not even the Ferrari who was going 240 km/h before you were in the way at 160 km/h. They also have a very good electronic signage system to make drivers aware of accidents, road conditions, or just general traffic.

Round 2 of Adventures in Munich The last weekend of September was a very busy one! We went to the Munich Zoo and made another (the 3rd) visit to Oktoberfest! Of course, we did other things during the week, like hit up the REAL, which used to be Wal-Mart here. (This is always an adventure: the store is 2 stories and with a very long escalator for the carts to go on...) We ate dinner out at a few bistros, as well as spent many evenings at the park meeting people and lots of other dogs.

So, the zoo. Their website says:

The Munich Zoo Hellabrunn was founded in 1911 as the first
Geo-zoo worldwide.The animals live according to their
geographic distribution in complex communities.If you
follow the icons you will travel around the world and
experience the different habitats on earth.
	  

Hellabrunn is no zoo in the classical sense. It is more of a
nature preserve within the landscape conservation area of the
Isar meadows inhabited by animals that live in especially large,
structured enclosures. Thanks to an extensive array of ditches
and a very natural landscape design the visitor can enjoy the
wonderful and unobstructed view of the animals that could normally
only be obtained in wildlife observation.

Translation: spectators are often only 10 feet from the animals, if that! And mostly there are only moats with 2-3 foot high fences separating the people from the animals (I think this is mostly for the kids, so they don't fall in. :o) ). The result: great pictures of animals they might not have in our zoos at home...or a better view of the animals that we do have at home. There was an aquarium, though not quite as big as the one in Atlanta; a reptile house (which we spent very little time in...creepy), as well as many exotic animals (and some very ordinary animals). There were TONS of primates! Big and little, sleepy and awake, recognizable and then not so recognizable. My favorite was the family of Chimps!! The Momma Chimp had a pile of hay, which she would lie on top of and scooch across the floor. Then she would rest, and then start scooching again. It was hilarious, and you'll see a few pictures trying to illustrate this. The older Chimp was amazing, so much hair, almost like dreadlocks. And of course the little chimps are always so cute.

There were tons of baby animals, baby buffalo, baby monkeys/primates of all kinds, baby cows, baby seals, baby kangaroos, baby chicks (yes, they had chickens at the zoo), and many other slightly cuter, as babies always are, versions of the animals. There was a petting zoo with goats and rabbits, and other furry things...even guinea pigs!

Our other favorites were the Sea Lions ( they liked attention and knew exactly how to get it), the penguins, and the polar bears. The polar bears didn't even move the whole time we looked at them, but it was amazing to be 6-8 feet from a beast whose nose is the size of Zepplin's head! I hope the pictures bring you joy, as it was a fun day seeing all of the animals in action.

The next day we headed back to the "fairgrounds" for another taste of the Oktoberfest! Chris' Grandmother had read in a newspaper article the Farris Wheel at Oktoberfest was the largest, moveable ferris wheel in the world. So, of course we had to ride it! Most of the pictures that you will see we took while on the ride, surveying the whole Oktoberfest. There are eight different beer tents. Well, really they are fully constructed buildings, which they start constructing in July, for a late September opening. Each tent sells a different brand of beer, so there is the Löwenbrau Beer Tent, Danielle's dad's favorite Paulaner, Hofbrau, etc. Each tent can sit more than a thousand, as each table can seat 10 and inside is just a sea of tables. In addition to the huge beer tents, there are many different booths selling souvenirs, selling food like pretzels (HUGE Pretzels), crepes, half chickens (roasted of course), ½ meter brats (check out the pictures on that), chocolate covered strawberries, fish sandwiches, and many other typical food items here.

The rest of Oktoberfest is really like a large state fair or carnival. Tons of rides, game booths, stuffed animals to win, loud American music playing...just add in the traditional dress of the Dirndel and Lederhosen, and you've got what makes Oktoberfest just that. In the pictures you will notice how crowded the grounds are. There are tons of people there every day. It is also said that each beer tent makes 1,000,000 Euros (about 1.4 million dollars) each day! That is a lot of beer at 8 euros a liter! Needless to say, the beer companies look forward to the three weeks of Oktoberfest each year. Each beer tent/brand also had horses decked out in the brand's colors to pull the beer wagon. We saw two different wagons while we were at the event that Sunday. They are huge and beautiful...think Budweiser Superbowl Commercials, only more decoration and jingles on the harnesses.

The next weekend was fun too, as we took the Suburban Bahn (S-Bahn for short), which is the subway that travels to the suburbs of Munich, out to Starnberger See. The See is a large lake on the southwest corner of Munich. Think of it as Lake Lainer with 1. More water (we've been reading about the shortages, and glad it is the end of boating season) and 2. Castles instead of houses and mansions on the shore.

King Ludwig II, who reigned in the 1860s-1880s, had a castle on this lake; he was banished there when he was found to have "paranoia" (schizophrenia now) by his political enemies. He went for a walk one evening and never came back. His body was found in the lake. There is obviously lots of controversy and mystery surrounding these events (Wikipedia has some great information on this if you are interested). There is a memorial cross where his body was found.

Alright, enough history...Chris and I took a boat ride to three different resort towns on the lake. You can see pictures of the different towns, as we took pictures of the town signs. We got off the boat in Tutzing (said Toot-sing). We walked through this quiet and quaint resort town back to the S-Bahn station. We went back to the town of Starnberger (where we caught the boat originally), where we walked around and ate lunch at a great lake side restaurant. We had some typical Bavarian cuisine, which was very tasty! And of course we paired it with a Weiss Bier (a wheat beer, which is my favorite here).

As for every-day life, we are getting along fairly well. The weather has been very nice here. It is sunny, but fairly cool, as fall is definitely here. The trees are almost naked, and the grass is now red, yellow, and orange with flecks of green poking through. There is not much humidity, so the clothes on the hanging rack dry much more quickly now. We have launched some searches around the city for things like crunchy peanut butter (Candice you were right:It's not easy to find here), PAM cooking spray (when we couldn't find that, we just bought a non-stick pan), skim milk, which we have determined doesn't exist here, and salsa, taco seasoning and tortillas, which we found yesterday at the REAL! WAHOO!!! We are having tacos tonight!

Danielle's German class started on the 8th of October, so I am back to being a student with homework every night. My class is Monday-Thursday from 12noon to 3pm every day (or 12:00-15:00 for those on Military time), and my teacher doesn't like to speak in English, as it is a German intensive course...so three hours a day of learning German while speaking German...I am hoping that I will soon be able to understand what people are asking me and respond with simple sentences. Chris is a big help, as he had more time to study the German grammar before we left the states than I did.

Our best wishes for everyone at home!

We are in Munich, Germany, just northwest of the city center. We are about 50 meters from the edge of the Olympic Park that was built for the 1972 Olympics. The rumor goes that the building that we live in was built for the journalists to live in during the summer games.

We have a cute two bedroom apartment on the ground floor, with a little patio. The whole thing is about 800 square feet, so a certain change from our lovely two story home back in Lawrenceville! It is fully stocked and ready to go, which is a great plus. With only bringing 487 (to be exact) pounds across the big pond, there isn't much of a Wunn flair yet, although, I hope that will change as the adventure continues. (see apartment pictures)

Our first week in Munich has been a busy one. There is much to learn, and there just happened to be much to do this week, too. The weather has been picture perfect. 50's in the morning warming up to mid 70's during the day with pure sunshine and no smog (sorry Atlantans). We learned the neighborhood on Wednesday and Thursday while Chris was home from work. Friday the routine began and the dogs and I walked Chris to the U-Bahn (underground train) station. As Chris went to work, we set on our way home through the park.

Saturday, the weekend fun began! With a couple of free days, we decided to take a drive down to the Fressnapf (pet super-store-yet super in the smallest kind of way). There two whole aisles for dogs, so when you compare to PetSmart, it was not so super-storeish! After that adventure and a few dog toys later, we drove to the Isar River, which is the main river that runs through Munich; according to my father, it is one of the three trout streams in Europe, too. The dogs had a blast playing in the river, chasing sticks and playing with other dogs. That evening The Police were playing at the Olympic Stadium, and our neighbor told us that if we didn't have tickets, we could can sit in the park and hear. So we did! The whole Police concert for free. It was a crack up; people had wine, picnics, tiki torches... it was worth the beautiful night under the stars and the 10 minute walk back to apartment to here Roxanne live. (hit up You-tube if you need an 80's refresher.)

Sunday we hit the opening weekend of Oktoberfest! It is about a 20 minute train ride to the fairgrounds. The festival is like the Georgia National Fair on Steroids (sorry, Jon.) If you take out the livestock elements and add tons of beer (and therefore drunk people), you have Oktoberfest. The rides seem much more elaborate than many at the fairs in the states, but then again, most fair rides are about the same. We drank, ate Bratwurst mit Brochen (more or less a bun) and had a great opportunity to people watch. People were even having their pictures taken with the very trunk people outside the beer tents. We will be going back on Thursday courtesy of Siemens. (Wait! That doesn't sound right...beer on the engineering/technology company? I thought that was limited to the advertising agencies!) (see 1st weekend pictures for illustrations)

After doing everything mentioned above (and all of the walking it took to do those things and the unmentioned 14 walks through the park with the dogs), we fell into bed, ready to start another week of adventures here in Munich! Please keep reading for some of my offhanded humor about the pluses and minuses so far.

This year our travelling started off a little slower. Having spent time in Ohio over Christmas, we stayed around Lawrenceville for New Years and even the MLK Jr holiday.

After this, we got back in gear. Chris made his first trip to Munich, Germany for one week in the middle of May. Danielle made several trips to Chicago, Charlotte, even Miami in the spring and early summer. Chris headed back to Statesboro in April to attend Abbie Williford's wedding. It was a beautiful event and many old friends showed up. Danielle also made a trip to Auburn just in time to see Kristin Massey before she graduated and headed west to work in a hotel in Yellowstone National Park

We made a bit of a pilgramage in July to celebrate July 4th. We visited Drew Mancini and family at their house on Lake Hartwell and then moved north to Lake Burton. There we were guests of the Witter family. Danielle and Ashley have always been great friends and this trip was as much fun as it was relaxing.

In the fall, Chris returned to Munich for the last 2 weeks of September. Danielle has plans to visit Kristina Mendoza at the University of Kentucky School of Dentistry. Also in October, we have plans to hit up the Georgia National Fair where we will see Big & Rich in concert. We'll head back to Columbus to visit the Galloway clan again over Thanksgiving break.

...Now if only we can make some plans for a skiing or mountain trip around Christmas or New Years...

In February we traveled to Reynoldsburg, OH for Aunt Caren's Surprise 50th Birthday Party. In early March we drove to Ft. Meyers/Cape Coral Florida to spend time with Chris's Grandma and Grandpa Galloway; that was a delightful and fun time sitting on the edge of the pool!
Danielle has spent a few weekends in Macon, GA with her friends from college. STUNT weekend was in February, and provided a few more fun times with the girls in Macon!

The rest of 2005 is paced with big trips and little trips all enjoyable, fun, and mostly to see the people that we love! At the end of May we are heading to Big Sky Country. We are going to spend some time in Montana with Danielle's Grandpa Dirkers. Danielle has been out to Montana almost every year since she was six, but this is a first for Chris. Update: see the pictures of our trip!

Towards the end of July we are going to spend a few days at the Ducharme's condo on Daytona Beach --nothing like walking out the front door and looking at the soft sand and crashing waves! The extra days over Labor Day Weekend will allow us to drive with Zepplin and Cedar to see Mom and Dad Wunn in Saint Louis! Zepplin and Cedar have to meet Syndney, their cousin(...aunt...sister...who knows what to call her!), but we are pretty sure that the three of them will have a blast together!

The biggest trip of the year will happen in October! We are heading to Madrid, Spain for a week! We are going to be staying with my brother and sister-in-law (John and Paulina). We will also be meeting the first nephew, Marco!! He will be about 10 months old when we are there! We can't wait to see the family, and the sights! This will be the first trip to Spain for both ofus!

Chris and I are unsure of our Holiday travel at this time, but as you can see, we have lots to do and see before the holidays get here anyway!